Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman, turned into an unwilling tourist at this time of the year, put Syracuse on his itinerary this week.

Friday morning, Yzerman stood outside the glass on the War Memorial rink and watched final preparations for the ice setup. Today, Yzerman’s new farm team, the Syracuse Crunch, will hold its first official practice at 11 a.m.

Yzerman had visited the barn before but had never seen it in full hockey mode.

“The ice is in. We’re happy with how the (renovated) locker room turned out,” he said. “It’s a good old rink. Simple. Good sight lines. It will be a good rink for the guys to play in.”

Yzerman, of course, would have preferred to be far, far away, in Tampa watching the Lightning prepare for its season. But the NHL lockout has removed that option, sending Yzerman on the road to find his hockey.

He spent a couple of days in Syracuse, and said his next stop are some Ontario Hockey League games.

“Now, I get a chance to make the most of the time,” he said. “There will be plenty of opportunities to watch our prospects. I like coming to watch the young guys play. They feel like your kids. You want them to do well. It’s part of the game you really enjoy.”

That’s a counter-balance to the business side of the sport, which is souring the mood of all NHL fans now. Commissioner Gary Bettman’s heavy hammer is a threat to the wallets of front office officials who dare to speak about the lockout, so Yzerman was almost mum when asked whether there will be a season.

In the meantime, Yzerman can entertain himself with a top affiliate that last season played like an NHL team for much of the year. The Lightning was affiliated with Norfolk, and the Admirals finished the regular season with 28 straight wins and then took the Calder Cup.

Many of the people responsible for that domination made the move from Norfolk to Syracuse, including AHL coach of the year Jon Cooper, rookie of the year and MVP Cory Conacher, defenseman of the year Mark Barbiero and star goalie Dustin Tokarski.

New garnishes include former first-rounders such as goalie Riku Helenius, forwards Vladdy Namestnikov and Brett Connolly and one of the hottest free agents out of college last year, forward J.T. Brown.

“The goal will be to try to win the championship for them all,” Yzerman said. “We’re every bit as skilled (as last year). It’s a similar group. How it all shakes out remains to be seen. We like the skill level of this group. We feel we have a pretty balanced lineup.”

As Yzerman spoke, the players were concluding conditioning testing in their new facilities in the basement. Cooper said he was happy with the overall fitness of the group, and singled out Tokarski and captain Mike Angelidis for specific praise.

“There doesn’t seem to be any disappointment (in the results), so that’s good,” Cooper said.

Angelidis, who ran captain’s practices on Thursday and Friday, said even though the players had earned a chance to relax during their short summer, subtle peer pressure was one reason they returned in top conditioning.

“I think it started off this morning. Guys were looking at other guys’ tests scores and realized guys worked hard over the summer,” he said. “I think guys look good. I think this team has been able to carry itself, hold each other accountable.”

Thursday afternoon, Cooper held his first full team meeting of the season. It was a happy gathering, marking the first get-together for everyone since June’s championship parade.

“I think guys are jacked up. I think they’re excited,” Cooper said.

It was also a cleansing time, since Cooper reminded the team that his goal is to win another championship and the first step toward that is to succeed in the grunt work of the regular season.

“What I told the guys is we should be coming in here like we want to repeat,” Cooper said.

“I think we’re focused on the task we have to achieve this year,” said Crunch defenseman J.P. Cote, who played for Norfolk last season. “I really like Jon’s philosophy on things. He really sells us. He’s a good teacher. The way he approaches things, everybody buys into what he says.”